Furnace charger



June 4, 1940.

J. N. RICHARDSON FURNACE CHARGER Filed March 21, 1938 2 SheetsSheet 1 Ina e 1% 7 .1. N. RICHARDSON 2,203,307

FURNACE CHARGER Filed March 21, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 [@emr W gm a/z Z a' c/zaralsow &

Patented June 4, 1940 p t UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FURNACE CHARGER John N. Richardson, Chicago, Ill.

Application March 21, 1938, Serial No. 197,087

, 13 Claims. (01. 214-18) This invention relates in general to a furnace Fig. is a View of the detachable hook at the charger of the vertical bucket type having a other end of the cable guide. bottom discharging cone by which the bucket is In charging a vertical furnace from the bottom supportedand is more particularly described with of a cone supported vertical bucket either 5 atraveling hoist and also with a supporting track through the side of. the furnace or at the top type of installation. thereof, it frequently is necessary to move the An important object of the invention is in the bucket from a charging position upwardly and provision of improved means for moving a furover a space which is encumbered by various nacecharging bucket from a position at the side obstructions which make itimpossible to use a of a furnace toa discharging position within the track. In such a case a vertical beam I0 is 10 walls of the furnace. mounted at the side of a furnace H above the A still further object of the invention is in the top, or a lateral fill opening l2 therein so that provision of. an improved simple transfer means the beam does not obstruct or extend within the for automatically moving a charging bucket from walls of the furnace. A loading pit I3 is provided a position at one side of a furnace laterally into in the ground or floor [4 below the beam It! and 16;.

and within the furnace by the raising and lowerat any distance from the furnace so that a coning movement of the bucket. siderable space may intervene between the pit A still further object of the invention is in the and the furnace. provision of a swinging type of carrier for en- A charging bucket [5 having a supporting cone gaging afurna'ce charging bucket and moving base [6 is carried by means of a cable ll wound 20:

it laterally in accordance with the raising and upon a drum N3 of a wheeled carrier l9 by a lowering movement of the bucket in contact with motor 20. The'carrier is moved along the beam said means whereby it is swung into and out of IO upon wheels 2| and suitable controls, prefdischarging position within a furnace. erably electrical, not shown, are provided for 26 A still further object of the invention is in the operating the motor or motors to raise and lower provision of a counter-weighted swinging structhe bucket and to move it along the beam at the ture normally positioned at the outside of a fursame time so that the bucket may be raised dinace and in the path of a bucket raised and lowrectly from the loading pit I3 upon the indicated ered for charging the furnace and actuated by line a or it may be raised 'or lowered and moved 0 the raising and lowering movement in engagelaterally, substantially in the path I) from one :1

ment with the pivoted swinging structure and position to the other.

operated by the raising and lowering movement At opposite sides of the upper edge of the to discharge the contents of the bucket within a bucket are outward projections 22 each'adapted furnace automatically. to engage in a hook 23 at the upper end of an arm A still further object of the invention is in the 24 of. a lever mounted upon a transverse pivot 25 35 i provision of improved means for maintaining the supported by a bracket 26 and the lower end of charging bucket in upright position although ateach lever having an enlarged or counter-weighttached to an outwardly inclined supporting cable ed portion 2! limited in its movement by a stop and swung inwardly within a furnace in dis- 28 carried by the bracket, the two opposite levers charging position. being connected by a cross-piece 29 so that they 40;

Other and further objects of the invention will will move in unison. appear hereinafter, the accompanying drawings Also extending across the top of the bucket [5 illustrating two preferred types of the invention is a cable guide comprising a shaft 30 mounted in which at its ends at the sides of the bucket and having Fig. 1 is a side View partly in section illustrata central sheave 3| adapted to engage the cable 45 ing the invention as applied to a furnace with an I! when the bucket is swung inwardly within the overhead horizontal carrier; furnace. In the charging position this cable Fig. 2 is a view partly in section illustrating guide is in the way so the shaft 30 is pivoted upon the invention as applied to a furnace and having a hinge 32 at one end and rests in a forked socket a supporting track for guiding the raising and 33 at the other end where it is retained in position 50.; lowering path of the bucket; by a latch 34 mounted upon a pivot 35 and held Fig. 3 is atop view of the charging bucket yieldingly in place by a spring 36. To move the showing the pivotal mounting of the cable guide; cable guide the hook 34 is disengaged and the v Fig. 4 is a view showing the pivotalend of the shaft 30 is swung upwardly about its pivot or 545 cable guide; and v hinge 32 at the other end.

At the upper edge of the furnace opening 12 is an idler sheave adapted to engage the bucket supporting cable I! in its limiting position and to form a guide about which the cable is deflected when the bucket is swung inwardly to discharging position. At the lower side of the opening is a fixed projection or stop 4| for engaging both of the pivoting arms 24 when they are swung inwardly, thereby limiting the inward movement of the arms and also limiting the movement of the bucket shell, but not the bottom thereof.

In operating the structure shown in Fig. 1 the bucket is raised from the charging position until.

the side projections 22 of the bucket engage the hooks 23 of the swinging structure whereupon the lowering movement of the bucket then automatically swings the bucket laterally with the arms through the furnace opening, or over the top of a furnace within the wall thereof and into a charging position with the arms 24 resting upon the fixed stops 4!. In this position the cable ll is deflected by the fixed sheave 40 at the upper side of the charging opening and by the guide sheave 3| mounted on the bucket itself. Further lowering movement of the cable causes the bottom it to be dropped vertically with respect to the bottom of the bucket, thereby allowing the contents of the bucket to be discharged within the furnace ll.

When the contents of the bucket is discharged the action is reversed, the first raising movement closing the bottom against the the lower edge of the bucket, then raising the bucket in connection with the swinging structure which moves the bucket outwardly until the counter-weighted portions of the swinging structure are engaged by their stop 28 which holds the arms 24 in upright position ready for the next engagement, the bucket being moved outwardly and then downwardly to loading position.

In the structure shown by Fig. 2, a similar action and operation is provided except that an inclined supporting track 42 is provided upon which the wheeled bucket hoisting carrier I9 is shown as raised and lowered by a cable attached thereto, passing around sheave 44 at the upper end of the track and extending to a separate motor operated drum 46. When the bucket is moved into the hooks 23, the lowering movement swings the bucket inwardly on the arms 24 and the discharging and returning movement is the same as previously set forth.

In both of these forms the movement and operation of charging and returning the bucket is extremely simple, it is entirely automatic, and once arranged and set for any installation, no further attention need be paid thereto. Usually the controls for the motor or hoisting mechanism are simply in the form of switches which are opened or closed as desired.

With this construction no complicated carrier supporting track or counter-weighting mechanism is necessary. The movable swinging means consists simply of a pair of counter-weighted arms which automatically move to a fixed receiving position outside of the furnace, or they are moved there by the return of the bucket, and when the bucket is raised to the proper position it engages in the arms so that by a continued lowering movement the bucket is first swung into or over the top of the furnace in a discharging location with respect to the walls thereof, and the continued movement of the lowering means moves the bottom downwardly to discharging position. Thus a great amount of operating structure and mechanism is avoided and the installation is simple, reliable, inexpensive, and may be easily applied in a variety of ways.

I claim:

I. A furnace charger comprising an upright furnace with a lateral charging opening, a charging bucket, means for raising and lowering the bucket, and means comprising arms pivoted at the side of the furnace having portions to engage the bucket and swing it uprightly into and out of the said opening by the lowering and raising movement of the bucket.

2. The combination with a furnace charged from the top thereof, of a charging bucket with a bottom discharge, means located entirely at one side of the furnace for raising and lowering the bucket, and means separate from the raising and lowering means comprising pivoted arms normally located entirely at one side of the furnace with end portions engaged by the bucket in its movement to swing it laterally in upright charging position inside of the furnace.

3. In a charger for an upright furnace, a bucket with a discharge bottom, means for raising and lowering the bucket, means compriss ing arms pivotally mounted at the side of the furnace with extremities for engaging and swinging the bucket laterally in uprightposition within and at the top of the furnace to discharge therein from the bottom of the bucket.

4. In a furnace charger, a bucket with a dis- 7 charge bottom by which it is supported in upright position, means for raising and lowering the bucket, movable means comprisingpivoted arms normally located outside of the wall of a furnace and end hooks on the arms in the path of the bucket to engage and move it inwardly of the wall of a'furnace for discharging from the bottom of the bucket.

5. In a furnace charger, a bucket with a dis charge bottom by which it is supported, means.

for raising and lowering the bucket by means of the bottom, movable means comprising arms pivoted at the outside of a furnace having end portions engaged by a bucket in raising it and movable to swing the bucket within a furnace when the bucket is then lowered, a stop for en-' gaging said movable means and arresting the movement of the bucket, and the bottom being lowered for discharging by the continued lower ing movement of said first means.

6. In a furnace charger, a bucket having a movable discharge bottom by which it is supported, a raising and lowering cable attached to the bottom and extending through the bucket for suspending it, means comprising pivoted arms with end hooks for engaging the bucket at the side of a furnace and swinging it within the furnace, and a guide for the cable at the top of the bucket to keep it centered when the outer portion is inclined.

7. In a furnace charger, a bucket having a movable discharge bottom by which it is supported, 2. raising and lowering cable attached to the bottom and extending through the bucket for suspending it, means comprising pivoted members having end hooks for engaging the bucket at the side of a furnace and swinging it within the furnace, raising and lowering means for the cable, a sheave above said engaging and swinging means to deflect the cable when the bucket is swung, and a guide at the top of the bucket to deflect and guide the cable keeping the bucket in upright position and the bottom centered therein.

8. In a furnace charger, a bottom charging bucket and a central cable for suspending it, means for raising and lowering the bucket, an arm pivoted at the side of a furnace having means at the free end to engage the bucket and swing it inwardly of the furnace in upright position when the bucket is lowered after such engagement.

9. In a furnace charger, a bottom charging bucket and a central cable for suspending it, means for raising and lowering the bucket, a pair of pivoted arms having hooks at their free ends positioned outside a furnace for engaging a bucket at opposite sides and swinging the'bucket laterally into a furnace when the bucket is then lowered in such engagement.

10. In a furnace charger, a bottom charging bucket and a central cable for suspending it, means for raising and lowering the bucket, a pair of counter-Weighted levers pivoted at the side of a furnace with means at free ends to engage a bucket and swing it laterally into and out of discharging position within the furnace, the counterweight returning and holding the levers in position to engage the bucket.

11. In a furnace charger, a bottom charging bucket and cable means attached to the bottom for suspending it, means for raising and lowering the bucket, a pair of connected levers pivoted intermediate their ends at the outer side of a furnace to be charged and having a counterweight at one end for returning and holding the levers in position to engage the bucket and having hooked extremities at the other ends to engage the opposite sides of the bucket, the arms and bucket swinging laterally and bodily together into the side of a furnace when the bucket is lowered after engagement'with the hooks of the arms, a stop to limit the movement of the arms and the bucket within a furnace, and the bottom being lowered for discharging by the continued operation of said lowering means.

12. A structure in accordance with claim 11 in which the raising and lowering means includes an inclined guide track extending from the loading position and the bucket has projections at opposite sides to engage the bucket in the hooked extremities of the arms for swinging movement therewith.

13. In a furnace charger, a bucket having side projections at the top and a movable discharge bottom with a centrally attached suspension cable extending through the top of the bucket, means for raising and lowering the bucket from loading to discharging position, a pivoted structure at the side of a furnace having means at the free end to engage the side projections and support a bucket therein as the bucket is swung inwardly and lowered by said raising and lowering means after such engagement, stops to limit the movement of the said structure in both directions, and means for deflecting the cable in the discharging position comprising a fixed pulley sheave above the pivoted structure and a cable guide attached to the top of the bucket, including a shaft and a sheave for centering the cable at the top of the bucket, the said guide being movable to an unobstructing location when the bucket is in loading position.

JOHN N. RICHARDSON. 

